WCHA Press Releases

Monday, November 28, 2016

WCHA In The Pros Update: November 28

By Bill Brophy for WCHA.com

Meaghan Mikkelson is used to winning and the former Wisconsin defenseman had a big part in a pair of victories that lifted her Calgary team into first place in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) last weekend.

Each week WCHA.com will offer an update on the former Western Collegiate Hockey Association players playing pro hockey. The website will also offer periodic stories on former WCHA players.

Meaghan Mikkelson is used to winning and the former Wisconsin defenseman had a big part in a pair of victories that lifted her Calgary team into first place in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) last weekend.

Mikkelson had one goal and two assists in leading the Inferno to a 5-1 victory over Boston Saturday, and she had an assist in Calgary's 9-2 victory in the series finale.

Mikkelson, whose father Bill played in the National Hockey League for Los Angeles, the New York Islanders and Washington in the early 1970's, won two gold medals for Team Canada in the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014. Her weekend performance helped Calgary move past Montreal into first place in the CWHL with a 9-1-0 mark.

Another former Badger, Blayre Turnbull, scored a goal in each game for Calgary. Ex-Minnesota star Sarah Davis and former Minnesota Duluth standout Brigette Lacquette each had an assist in the series finale, while former UMD star Haley Irwin had one assist Saturday and three assists Sunday.

In the other CWHL series last weekend, Montreal split a series with Brampton as former Minnesota Duluth stars dominated. In the series opener, Caroline Ouellette had two goals and an assist, while Noemie Marin added a goal and Montreal gained a 4-3 victory. In the series finale, Jenna McParland scored the game-tying goal and Brampton took a 3-2 win. Marin and Emmanuelle Blais each had an assist for Montreal.

The standings show the Inferno (9-1-0) in first place with 18 points. Montreal (7-2-1) is in second place with 15 points and Toronto (5-3-2) is third with 12 points, while Brampton (3-5-1) has eight points and Boston (0-7-1) has one point.

The National Women's Hockey League was idle last week. League play is schedule to resume Dec. 2-3, as the league continued to address its recent announcement that players would be forced to take pay cuts to keep the league financially viable.

Boston, the defending champion, leads the NWHL with a 6-0 record and 12 points, while New York (2-3-1) jumped into a second place tie with Buffalo (2-4-1). Each has five points, one more than Connecticut (2-3). Brianna Decker, the former Patty Kazmaier Award winner from Wisconsin, is tied for third in league scoring with seven points (three goals and four assists).
Nineteen women's hockey alumni are spending the 2016-17 season playing in the CWHL while 18 former WCHA players are competing in the NWHL.

The Minnesota Whitecaps, an elite women's hockey team made up of post-collegiate players, also has 22 former WCHA players – from seven league schools – on its Minneapolis-based roster. It includes nine former Minnesota players (Rachael Bona, Hannah Brandt, Winny Brown, Katie Frischmann, Mira Jalosuo, Becky Kortum, Meghan Lorence, Chelsey Rosenthal and Kelly Seeler), four North Dakota alumni (Shelby Amsley-Benzie, Tanja Eischenschmid, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando) and four from St. Cloud State (Julie Friend, Carrie Holldorf, Meaghan Pezon and Haylea Schmid), two players from Minnesota Duluth (Jenny Potter and Emma Stauber), and one each from Bemidji State (Stephanie Anderson), Minnesota State (Alli Altmann) and Wisconsin (Alex Rigsby). Seven members of the Whitecaps were on Team USA and won a goal medal at the recently-concluded Four Nations Cup.

The Whitecaps are idle until Jan. 6-7 when they play at Minnesota.

Here are the ex-WCHA players currently on professional team rosters, effective Nov. 25: